The Accidental Feminist

Lord (Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll) combines Elizabeth Taylor's biography with a confetti of quotations on feminism and coverage of Hollywood censorship, psychology, contemporary events, and current lore. She revisits Taylor's well-known films and, with reverence, relates experiencing an impression of powerful feminism. She asserts that Taylor's motives in choosing roles were primarily idealistic and that her AIDS activism is evidence of her feminism. Lord summarizes A Place in the Sun, Giant, Suddenly Last Summer, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and attributes to Taylor her characters' sensitivity, assertiveness, strength in victimization, or challenge to gender stereotyping. The potential for full analysis is lost as Lord dismisses the more traditional roles in The Last Time I Saw Paris, Ash Wednesday, Boom, and The Only Game in Town. Comments on BUtterfield 8 maintain the hagiographic tone that pervades the book.